Modern computing networks provide access to a wide variety of computing resources such as data archives, search engines, data processing, data management, communications, electronic marketplaces, as well as media and entertainment services. As the number and size of such computing resources, and their user communities, have grown and become more sophisticated, a need has arisen to establish increasingly sophisticated usage policies. For example, such policies may include policies that address security, privacy, access, regulatory and cost concerns.
Often, policy enforcement in connection with computing resources involves devices of the computing resources authenticating themselves to access other computing resources. A device may provide credentials to another device that are verified to determine actions that may be taken by the device according to any policies applicable to the device. However, modern computer networks often involve the control and administration of multiple devices, including multiple virtual devices. In addition, devices in computing networks are often subject to various attempts at unauthorized access. If an attempt at unauthorized access is successful, there may exist a possibility that credentials used by a compromised device could be used for additional unauthorized access, which potentially could have harmful effects. As a result of the complexities of modern computing networks and the risks to which devices in the networks are subjected, effective management of credentials can be a difficult endeavor.
Same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and FIGS. to reference like components and features, but such repetition of numbers is for purposes of simplicity of explanation and understanding, and should not be viewed as a limitation on the various embodiments.